In 2008, anti-choice lawmakers continued their relentless attacks on a woman's right to choose in legislatures throughout the country. In addition to the 20 states that considered bills that would place bans on access to abortion, states were considering and enacting a wide variety of other anti-choice bills, including those that support discredited and dangerous "abstinence-only" programs, block women's access to birth control, and place unnecessary and burdensome requirements on abortion providers. Anti-choice legislators continued their puzzling insistence on opposing measures that can prevent unintended pregnancy and therefore reduce the need for abortion, while instead focusing on divisive measures to make abortion care more difficult to obtain for women who need and choose it.

Even with Roe's core protections still in place, 87 percent of counties in the United States do not have an abortion provider, according to The Guttmacher Institute. But opponents of choice are not satisfied, pushing forward with legislative measures that run the gamut from granting pharmacists the right to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions to outright bans on abortion in all circumstances, even when a woman's health is in danger.

ANTI-CHOICE STATE LEGISLATIVE MEASURES CONSIDERED & ENACTED IN 2008

Measures considered:

• States considered 502 anti-choice measures in 2008.
• The number of anti-choice measures considered in 2008 increased 8 percent from 2007, when states considered 464 anti-choice measures.
• Every state with a regular legislative session considered anti-choice legislation in 2008, except for California, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
• For the fifth year in a row, West Virginia considered more anti-choice legislation than any other state—59 measures.

Measures enacted:

• 16 states enacted 24 anti-choice measures in 2008.
• Oklahoma enacted the most anti-choice legislation in 2008, with six measures.
• Between 1995 and 2008, states enacted 581 anti-choice measures—including 24 in 2008 alone.
• Anti-choice state legislative measures considered and enacted while George W. Bush was in office:
  • State legislatures considered more than 4,200 anti-choice measures.
  • 317 of these measures have been enacted.

Anti-choice legislation enacted in 2008 included:

• Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano each vetoed a measure banning a safe second-trimester abortion method that is similar to the federal ban the Supreme Court upheld in 2007.
• Oklahoma enacted an omnibus anti-choice law that, among other things, expands Oklahoma law allowing certain individuals and entities to refuse to perform abortion services, requires that a woman view ultrasound images before she may have an abortion even if not medically necessary for patient care, and prohibits certain qualified health care professionals from performing abortion services.
• Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a measure that would make the state's existing parental-consent requirement even harsher.